In a traditional optical transceiver board, there is a matched set of optical transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) entities, or ports. While the traditional approach of having a receiver matched with a transmitter is still possible, it is inefficient.
The traditional approach of managing the TX and RX ports would use 4 RX circuits which would then match Media Access Control (MAC) interface electronics. The Media Access Control (MAC) data communication protocol sub-layer is the part of the seven-layer OSI model data link layer (layer 2). It provides addressing and channel access control mechanisms that make it possible for several terminals or network nodes to communicate within a multipoint network. The MACs would then be managed for the respective portion of the total upstream traffic from the ONTs on the PON. A passive optical network (PON) is a system that brings optical fiber cabling and signals all or most of the way to the end user. A PON consists of an Optical Line Termination (OLT) at the communication company's office and a number of Optical Network Units (ONUs) near end users. A PON typically consists of an OLT, which resides in a Central Office (CO). The OLT typically services a number of ONUs that are usually connected in a star arrangement using optical splitters, which reside at a premise of a user. PONs are designed on the premise of time-sharing of resources. This traditional solution would require 4 RXs plus potentially 4 MAC electrical interfaces.
Referring to FIG. 1, a traditional system 100 comprises an optical transceiver board 102 with a matched set of optical transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) ports 106. Each TX/RX port is coupled to a MAC interface 104. A wavelength-division multiplexer (WDM) 108 is coupled to each of the ports 106 to multiplex the optical carrier signal, and to a combiner 110, which is a passive device that combines the optical power carried by many input fibers into a single output fiber. The combiner 110 is coupled to an external PON 112. As previously mentioned, this type of a system is inefficient.
Therefore, what is needed is an ability to overcome these problems and limitations to allow the RX and TX ports to be managed more efficiently.